Karen Handel on Abortion

Endorsed by Susan B. Anthony List for pro-life women

The Susan B. Anthony List is throwing its support to former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel's Senate campaign. The group supports candidates who oppose abortion rights, mostly endorsing Republican women.

Handel, while at the Susan G. Komen
Foundation for breast cancer research, pushed the group to end funding for Planned Parenthood, a women's health organization that provides abortions. The move triggered a huge public controversy, the group reversed its decision and Handel resigned.

The Susan B. Anthony List touts her fight to keep money from Planned Parenthood in its endorsement: "Karen Handel is a strong, articulate pro-life leader," said the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund President. "Karen fearlessly exposed the false roots
of the 'war on women' PR campaign when she called America's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, a bully--and busted the myth that they provide mammograms."

Planned Bullyhood: book exposes Planned Parenthood's tactics

Karen wrote the book Planned Bullyhood--the Truth Behind the Planned Parenthood Funding Battle. Karen, because of her pro-life beliefs, took the courageous step to stand up to the bully tactics of Planned Parenthood. She exposed the country's leading
abortion provider as a liberal political machine willing to destroy anyone or any organization to advance its agenda and secure the continued flow of nearly $1.5 million a day in government funding to its coffers.

FactCheck: Yes, ObamaCare allows states to fund abortions

Handel wrote in "Planned Bullyhood" that Planned Parenthood will receive millions of dollars in grants under the federal government's ObamaCare health care law. "Most disturbing, is the fact that ObamaCare will provide coverage for abortions, despite
the president's commitment that it would not," Handel wrote on page 161 of the book.

We want to fact-check: Does the health care law provide a means for coverage for abortions? A US Department of Health and Human Services weblink contradicts Handel's
claim that the law provides coverage for abortions. It says the health care law does not pay for abortions, citing a decades-old federal policy called the Hyde Amendment.

But if a state chooses to, it can use its own funds to cover abortions, & states
will continue to have this option under the health care law. So, can women get abortions through the ObamaCare exchanges? It depends which state you reside in. Because that bit of detail was not mentioned, we rate Handel's entire claim Mostly True.

Pro-life beliefs deepened by failure to conceive

The emotional pain of not being able to conceive was beginning to take a serious toll. We had even tried fertility treatments, hoping and praying for a miracle. I couldn't bring myself to attend baby showers.
News stories about abortion or even just the sight of a mother and baby made my sorrow deeper and more palpable.

Steve and I had to make a decision--for the sake of our marriage; for my sake.
Do we cross the bridge to a life without children of our own or do we stay in a place so filled with pain that it is tearing us apart and destroying us both emotionally?
We crossed the bridge--together, with Steve holding my hand the entire way--trusting that God would indeed "make the rough places smooth."

Out of this very personal, painful struggle, my pro-life beliefs were deepened.

Who am I to prevent a couple from fertility treatments?

Dan Becker, Georgia's Right to Life president, led the meeting. The discussion seemed to be going well. Then fertility treatments were mentioned.

I was immediately uncomfortable, and my focus drifted as the sadness and pain of not having a child pushed
their way to the surface. Then I thought I heard Becker say something about fertility treatments being immoral, that they would be outlawed.

What do fertility treatments have to do with pro-abortion or pro-life?

During our nearly 10-year journey,
Steve and I tried nearly every fertility treatment that was available at the time--all to no avail. If a married couple can benefit from fertility treatments, including in vitro, who was I to prevent that couple from being a family--to prevent that woman
from being a mom?

Becker went off on a tangent about the California "Octomom"--as if she was a fair representation of the hundreds of thousands of married couples pursuing fertility in hopes of having even just one child of their own.

Planned Parenthood is country's leading abortion provider

The vast majority of Planned Parenthood activities--97%--are not related to abortion, at least according to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood distorts its numbers through the way it defines a "service."
In calculating its claim that 97% of its services are not abortion-related, Planned Parenthood counts the distribution of a single condom as a service, just like an abortion is counted as a service.

Whatever the reality, Planned Parenthood is the country's leading abortion provider. In 2010, Planned Parenthood performed 329, 445 surgical abortions or abortions using the
RU486 pill, commonly known as the morning-after pill. That's more than 27% of all abortions performed in the US every year. Further, just 841 adoption referrals were made.

End $500M annual federal funding of Planned Parenthood

The bad guys have to be stopped. One of the 1st steps in stopping them is ending government funding to Planned Parenthood.

It should concern all of us that an overly political interest group like Planned Parenthood receives nearly $500 million a year--
that's nearly $1.5 million each and every year--in government funding.

Planned Parenthood's funding is legally funneled to its many political arms to be doled out to candidates who will be Planned Parenthood champions for yet more government funding.

A corrupt triangle has been empowered: government money flows to Planned Parenthood; Planned Parenthood money is then used to attack its opponents and elect its friends; those friends funnel more taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.
Without their permission, the American taxpayers--that's you and me--have turned into subsidizers not only of abortion but also of political propagandizing. This must end.

Adult stem cells but no embryonic stem cells

Today, with scientific advances that are now a reality and others that are on the horizon, society faces serious new moral and ethical issues. In dealing with these issues, Karen believes the sanctity of human life must be the priority and
the fundamental premise upon which policies are based.

Karen believes that science has shown that adult stem cells have greater scientific and medicinal value than embryonic stem cells. Creating life only to end it and use it for research is wrong.